Justin's HIV Journal

High Steaks vs. High Cholesterol

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

People who take certain HIV medications often get high cholesterol as a side effect of the drugs. Recently my doctor told me that I have high cholesterol. But is it a result of my drug regimen? I had been taking Reyataz, Norvir and Truvada, all of which have high cholesterol as a possible adverse effect. It could be my genes or my lifestyle -- or even a combination. I may never really know. But since high cholesterol increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, it's time for me to make some changes.

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Mr. Maryland Leather 2010

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 14:28:49 GMT

This has been an exciting year for me. First I was awarded my Associate's Degree in Communications, then I got married, and I was given my first award for the activism work and community service that I have done with Justin's HIV Journal. But nothing could have prepared me for what was next to come.

On November 6th, 2009 I was Contestant #3 in the Mr. Maryland Leather 2010 contest.

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Tiger Woods and HIV/AIDS, Revisited

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 23:08:49 GMT

First let me apologize to all of my readers and watchers for me even writing anything about this over publicized affair. So here we are living in a world of HIV/AIDS and Tiger Woods has reportedly had many affairs with many different women, supposedly 14.

In my opinion Tiger Woods has his own life and we shouldn't judge him on what he does in his private life as long as he is not hurting anyone or himself. BUT he has ...

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HIV/AIDS and the Black Church

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 04:51:49 GMT

I've always wondered why my community of gay black men has been hit the hardest by HIV/AIDS, especially in the D.C. area. Then I thought, there are a number of reasons why this is the case.

When HIV/AIDS first came out in the public eye, a lot of people of color automatically stigmatized HIV as a gay white disease. So they went around with this notion in their heads that they couldn't possibly contract HIV.

As time went on, that notion was proven wrong. In the black community, HIV/AIDS grew and grew and grew. And now we are living in a modern epidemic in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. It is sad to say that as of early 2009, 3 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents are living with HIV or AIDS. According to health officials, the 1 percent threshold constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic.

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Hello to TheBody.com

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:04:44 GMT

My name is Justin B Smith, I'm the writer and producer of Justin's HIV Journal and this is the first time I'm written for TheBody.com. I'm so very happy to be here to be able to talk with all of you guys and I hope to be writing here a lot.

A couple years ago I came up with Justin's HIV Journal. I honestly didn't know how I was going to do it or get it off the ground. I was inspired by the way Barack Obama was using the Internet as a tool to get his message out.

I have to admit I had many reservations in putting myself out there like I did. I thought about so many things that people might say about me. I worried for example, that they might say, "He deserves HIV for being gay," or "He slept with men and drank a lot, no wonder he has HIV." It hurts to my soul that people would say such things about me, but I remain strong.